July 06, 2007 |

Okay, so Barry Bonds isn’t going to enter the Home Run Derby in San Francisco. Big deal. Neither is Ken Griffey Jr. There’s a reason. He’s OLD. Swinging a bat that many times in a row is not as easy as it seems. And, as has been pointed out in several articles already, there’s a lot of waiting around and with it the increased potential for muscle stiffness or worse. The man is protecting his body. I know he’s a jerk. I know people hate him. But, please, LEAVE THE GUY ALONE ALREADY!

Deal with the fact that he is HANDS DOWN the best baseball player you’ve ever seen and the best baseball player of all-time. He would make Babe Ruth look stupid. In his prime he had a better arm and stole more bases than Willie Mays. He has more power, and HAD more power (pre-cream) than Ted Williams ever had. He’s the best. Yes, he’s better than Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner or anyone else you might come up with. The numbers prove it. Deal with it. Accept it. And move on.

If you stuck Bonds in a time machine and whisked him back to 1927 and the era of Murderer’s Row (of course you’d have to change society to let him play) he’d make the whole league look bad. He would turn on pitches so much faster than anyone ever has that they would just stare in awe. Gehrig, Ruth, Mel Ott, all of them would bow before Barry Bonds- provided they didn’t drop dead of a heart attack first.

Or drop him into the Fifties or Sixties if you prefer. What would he do against Koufax, Gibson or a young Jim Palmer? He’d hit homeruns- lots of them.

Do you think there’s a former Oriole who can touch Bonds? Who? Frank Robinson? You’re dreaming. Eddie Murray? Get medication. Cal Ripken Jr.? Sorry, Barry Bonds makes Cal look like Billy. Okay, that’s an exaggeration but you get my point.

Be thankful you’re alive to see the greatest baseball player ever break the most important baseball record ever. And when Alex Rodriguez breaks it again in a few years, be thankful you’re alive for that- because as good as Barry Bonds is, some will say that Alex Rodriguez is even better.

And, by the way, he’s not in the Home Run Derby either.

If Bonds wants to sit the contest out, fine. I just hope when it’s game time pitchers aren’t too scared to give him something to hit. They usually are.

So after a heated debate with Mr. Snider yesterday about Troy Smith, I’m asked to call into the show today to promote the Baseball Memories Essay Contest and Rex mentions that the new photos of Andrew and I at the top of the site are reminiscent of characters from the film "Deliverance". Rex, buddy, I appreciate your feedback but must point out that Andrew and I deliberately took photos that were a little weird. You know, it’s the whole sports/comedy thing.

Now here’s some more comedy…

After discussing it with Andrew, we’ve come to the conclusion that YOUR photo is actually the most realistic depiction of any of the WNST hosts. You look EXACTLY like a cop… the one who was in the 70’s band "The Village People".

No, seriously. You should have sunglasses, a studded leather collar around your neck and Nestor should be dragging you around by a leash.